Reverse Interview 3
It was a little unexpected that Cheol-san ajusshi actually knew medicine, so as I followed the village chief toward his house I asked one of the Tang Family warriors.
From living with them I had already gathered that the Sichuan Tang Family was a martial household based in Sichuan that trained in the martial arts.
Their specialty, however, was peculiar—poison specialists?
In other words, a family that researched and polished methods of killing people with poison.
It gave off the vibe of some legendary assassin clan, you know?
So my reverse-interview score had been dropping quite a bit.
But if the Tang Family was also skilled in medicine, then instead of only learning terrifying ways to kill people with poison I could learn medicine as well.
Even if it was a side path, I could still ride that tech tree, right?
After all, the tech tree is whoever’s riding it’s choice, isn’t it?
Sichuan Tang Family medicine specialist. That’s the best, isn’t it?
But is the medicine part really true?
When I looked at the Tang warrior with a “is that right?” expression, he smiled and answered.
He truly wanted me to join the Sichuan Tang Family, so he poured heat and sincerity into answering my long-awaited question.
“The Tang Family’s martial arts are poison arts, so as we handle poisons we are also proficient with medicines. Medicine and poison share a single continuous thread, after all. And martial arts begin with knowing the body, so we know a fair amount about medicine.
“To injure another’s body you must understand the body that well. Well, our Sichuan Tang Family also needs to know how poisons react inside a human body, so we sometimes seize bad men and inject them directly. Naturally we are more knowledgeable about medicine than other families.”
“Aha… I-I see?”
The warriors were even using honorifics in their determination to drag me into the Sichuan Tang Family somehow.
But after hearing his explanation, the image of the Sichuan Tang Family inside my head became a mad clan that researched the human body—and even performed human experiments—in order to kill people more efficiently.
A psychopath family that aimed for mass slaughter with poison, no less.
They research the body so they can kill people better… Reverse-interview score –50 points. Insane human experiments reverse-interview score –100 points. Completely a psychopath family. But civilian support +3 points.
In the end, apart from the flying qinggong and the civilian support, the reverse-interview score for the Sichuan Tang Family was only dropping.
While I was conducting that mental interview evaluation of the Sichuan Tang Family, Cheol-san ajusshi arrived at the village chief’s house, placed his hand on the child’s chest, and did something. The child’s racing chest calmed, and the child let out a long breath.
—Phew…
Whatever method he used, Cheol-san ajusshi had restored the child’s breathing.
Wiping his forehead, he spoke to the village chief.
“I’ve temporarily circulated inner energy through the body and stopped the breath from failing.”
“Th-thank you! Sob… She’s my only remaining granddaughter. Please save her.”
Yet after examining the village chief’s granddaughter for a long while, he made a face as though he could not understand something.
“But this is strange. An irregular pulse.”
“Wh-what is that?”
If it’s bujomaek, then arrhythmia. Heart disease?
I had never formally studied medicine, but being a specialist in venomous creatures and poisonous insects in my previous life meant I possessed a certain amount of toxicological and medical knowledge.
So I had a rough sense of what Cheol-san ajusshi was describing.
“It means the heart is not beating correctly. Has the child been like this since birth?”
Ah, as expected, he’s asking whether it’s a heart condition.
“Of course not. It’s already been half a year. People suddenly fall ill one after another and end up like this. We call it a strange disease. That’s why I told you all to turn back at the village entrance earlier.”
Even though they were relatively kind Li people, they had treated us coldly because of the affliction plaguing the village. Hearing the explanation, Cheol-san ajusshi nodded and replied.
“It does not seem contagious, so that should be fine. Still, if we are to save the child I need to examine a few others as well. Could you gather those suffering from the same strange disease?”
“Understood!”
As ajusshi said, among the contagious diseases I knew there was none that damaged the heart, so I felt a little relieved.
At the village chief’s order the sick gathered one by one in front of his house, and ajusshi spent a considerable time taking their pulses.
After examining every patient and writing their symptoms on paper, however, Cheol-san ajusshi shook his head with an expression of complete incomprehension.
“Lethargy and swelling around the eyes, irregular pulse, mild fever as well—yet the symptoms are not uniform. Those whose conditions are severe all seem to have problems with the heart. Mysterious.”
Some were listless and feverish; some had arrhythmia and swollen eyes; the seriously ill all had heart trouble.
At those words the village chief asked with a fearful face.
“C-can’t it be cured!?”
“For now I’ll write down medicines good for the heart. Could you gather them quickly? Let us try the medicine.”
True to a man who had studied medicine, ajusshi avoided a definitive answer and simply said he would attempt treatment.
It felt like symptomatic care because he did not know the cause, yet to the village chief it was hope. He called the villagers together and ran out to search for herbs.
“Everyone gather! The doctor has ordered us to find the medicines!”
The reason he could not simply walk past even though it was someone else’s affair was that the sick little girl reminded him of Hwa-eun, who was waiting in Sichuan.
I-I’m sorry. Father… I-I’ve been unfilial.
His daughter’s face, turned blue-green from poison after failing her martial training, apologizing through tears—that face rose before him, and he could not leave.
Therefore Dang Cheol-san examined the child with the utmost care.
He knew better than anyone the heart of a parent whose daughter or granddaughter was ill.
In the intervals of tending the girl he prepared medicines, first washing the eyes of those with ocular trouble and applying salve, and for those with fever he compounded and administered antipyretic powder to bring the heat down.
By the time he had finished examining every patient, the surroundings had grown dim.
One of the Tang Family warriors approached and held out a water-soaked towel.
“Family Head, please at least wipe your face. You have worked hard.”
“Thank you, Gu Pae.”
“No need for thanks.”
The man who offered the towel was Gu Pae, Deputy Commander of the Poison Blood Squad.
A man of excellent character who commanded the respect of the family warriors.
He had remained here because he had been wounded while trying to save other warriors who nearly died during the hunt for the Azure-Spotted Centipede.
“By the way, where is the young hero?”
“Ah, he seemed exhausted after helping with the work and dozed off, so I laid him down in a room.”
“Right. Since he has not yet learned martial arts and has traveled with us for several days, it must have been hard for him to endure. So, how is the young hero you have observed these past few days?”
Dang Cheol-san asked Gu Pae about Wi So-ryong.
Separate from the young hero’s talents, he wanted to know the boy’s character; that was why he had asked Gu Pae to watch the young hero’s disposition for several days.
The boy would become his son-in-law, so character mattered as much as talent.
“Since the young hero is not yet a member of our Sichuan Tang Family, may I speak honestly?”
“Of course.”
That was exactly what Dang Cheol-san wanted, so he nodded, and Gu Pae began to recount everything he had seen of the young hero.
“First, living alone as an orphan in this Hainan jungle raising venomous creatures—he is an eccentric. At that age longing for people is only natural.”
“Yes, the young hero is indeed an eccentric.”
“Yes. But if you ask whether his character is sharp-edged like the eccentrics of the murim, that is not the case. He is not ordinary, yet he does not seem vicious or cruel.”
“Looking at how he released some of the venomous creatures he was raising before coming here—saying he might die—he clearly does not have a cruel nature. So then he is not lacking as my son-in-law?”
At Dang Cheol-san’s question Gu Pae lowered his head.
“Yes, but what worries me is…”
Having said it was fine and then mentioning a worry, Dang Cheol-san tilted his head and asked again.
“So what is the problem? You clearly said it was fine.”
“It is the aptitude, after all…”
Dang Cheol-san already knew.
The young hero was fourteen or fifteen now.
A little late to begin martial training, and the young hero’s own aptitude was not particularly good either.
Yet Hwa-eun existed for the martial side, and the young hero’s value did not lie in martial arts, so he shook his head.
With only the talents the young hero possessed, he might raise the Tang Family’s martial arts another level.
No—he would certainly raise them another level.
“Do not worry. The young hero’s value is not in that. Did we not all see the venomous creatures he raised?”
“Even so… Since he is the young lady’s match, if he were outstanding in various ways…”
“Haha, this man’s greed. Anyone listening would think you were Hwa-eun’s father.”
“I am sorry, Family Head.”
Every word Gu Pae spoke sprang from concern for the Tang Family and for Hwa-eun.
At that Dang Cheol-san smiled gently.
It meant Gu Pae thought that deeply of the Sichuan Tang Family and of Hwa-eun.
When thoughts of the family and of Hwa-eun ended, his gaze turned to the girl who still lay unconscious.
“By the way, this girl is a serious problem.”
He had lowered her fever with antipyretic powder and compounded medicine to restore her depleted strength, yet he still had not found the fundamental cause.
If the heart problem was not solved, the irregular pulse would return.
Once he left, he could no longer guarantee the girl’s life.
“You could not find the cause?”
“It does not come to me at all. As you know, few in the Tang Clan have read as many medical texts as I have. I have never seen or heard of such a disease.”
“We cannot remain here indefinitely either, so it is a serious problem?”
“It is. Will you check once?”
Out of a “just in case” hope he had Gu Pae take the pulse as well, but after feeling the girl’s pulse Gu Pae shook his head.
“I have no idea either.”
In the end the two men fretted over whether any method existed, yet nothing came to mind.
Night had fully fallen and insects began flying in from outside toward the lanterns.
“Ah, I should check whether our son-in-law is sleeping well. Bugs are flying in like this. Being a hot place, there are as many insects as in the jungles of Yunnan.”
“I will attend you. This way, please. You others look after the young lady here.”
“Yes, Deputy Commander.”
Leaving the young lady in the care of the other warriors, they arrived at the room where the sleeping son-in-law lay.
In the swaying lantern light, the face of the young son-in-law candidate who lay asleep.
At the very moment Dang Cheol-san was gazing fondly at that sleeping face—
—Flutter-flutter.
The sound of a flying insect approached from somewhere; one bug landed on the son-in-law’s forehead and slowly crawled across his cheek toward his lips.
No—that thing!
If the son-in-law were bitten it would be disastrous.
Hainan held many poisonous insects he himself did not know.
Therefore Dang Cheol-san dashed toward the boy and struck the bug with all his might.
—Smack!
He could not forgive anything that dared try to bite his son-in-law.
“Kyaaak!”
Yet in his determination to crush the insolent insect he completely forgot that the place the bug was crawling was the son-in-law’s cheek.
In the end the boy who woke from sleep clutched his reddened cheek and stared at Dang Cheol-san with resentful eyes.
“Wh-what is this!? Oww, that hurts!”
Waking in the middle of the night to a sudden slap on the face would be both absurd and resentful.
Dang Cheol-san scratched his head and answered.
“S-sorry. A bug crawled onto your cheek and I meant to catch it. My hand moved without thinking.”
“No, elder. While catching the bug you’ll catch me first. Oww, my cheek.”
“I am truly sorry. Such a large bug was crawling on your cheek, so my hand went out without thought. Look—is it not this big?”
Claiming he had only tried to catch such a large insect, that it had all been for his son-in-law’s sake, Dang Cheol-san held out the captured bug to make his excuse.
It was still stuck to his palm.
Fortunately the son-in-law’s resentful gaze shifted from Dang Cheol-san to the insect.
Yet something strange happened.
The moment the boy confirmed the bug, his still-bleary eyes snapped wide open and he brought his face close to the insect that still retained its shape on the palm.
He even dragged Dang Cheol-san’s hand next to the lantern, and a startled question burst from him.
“Th-this? Why on earth are these things here!?”
Meaning it was a bug that had no business being here, yet here it was.
Dang Cheol-san asked carefully.
“Just what kind of bug is this that you react so?”
Then the son-in-law looked up at Dang Cheol-san and answered.
“Kiss bu—… Since this is the Central Plains… What should I call it? Ah! Right! The Kissing Insect! This is a bug called the Kissing Insect, elder.”
“Th-the Kissing Insect?”
A bug that kisses.
At the lewd name of the insect, Dang Cheol-san’s eyes shot wide open.
The bug’s name was rather indecent, after all.